Who will be Newcastle's captain?
- Published
BBC Radio Newcastle have been discussing which player should be appointed captain for Newcastle United's 2026-27 season, following the departure of Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal.
Lee Hawthorn gave eight potential options for the the armband and you can read all about them on this page, but here are his top two players that he wants new head coach Matthias Jaissle to consider for captaincy.
2. Malick Thiaw
So, hands up, Malick Thiaw wasn't originally on this list. I had seen some chatter online about the defender potentially taking the armband but I hadn't really seen anything to suggest he would be. Obviously, Matthias Jaissle has seen something in the German that I haven't because Thiaw was the captain in the new head coach's first game in charge for the friendly with Valencia. There's a chance it was just a nice birthday presenter for Thiaw but at 25-years-old he's now one of the older players of the new crop for Newcastle 2.0 and was one of the few players who finished last season with any credit. I still think there is a chance Newcastle will name a club captain, but now my eyes have been opened to the very real possibility to Malick Thiaw leading the Mags out at St. James' Park this season.
1. Dan Burn
He's from Blyth. He was selected for England's 2026 World Cup squad by Thomas Tuchel largely because of his ability to set standards in training and be a leader in the dressing room and he has always given his all for the club since arriving in the summer after the takeover. If Lewis Hall and Sven Botman stay fit, you can't imagine Burn will get too many minutes on the pitch, but his experience, connection to the club and his general demeanor make him a natural choice for club captain. He has already etched his name in the club's history with that iconic header in the Carabao Cup final, imagine if he was the one lifting the next trophy with the armband on.
Scroll down for the full discussion or listen to the full clip above and on BBC Sounds here
